Laguna Beach boys’ soccer in Pacific Coast League title hunt
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The Laguna Beach boys’ soccer team rode the wave of an emotional high to the quickest of starts on senior night, as the Breakers scored just 16 seconds into the match and never looked back.
Nayan Martlin scored twice in Laguna Beach’s 3-0 win over visiting Sage Hill on Tuesday evening, the Breakers remaining firmly in the hunt for the Pacific Coast League championship.
Laguna Beach (7-4-3, 6-2-1 in league) is attempting to chase down University (7-3-1, 7-2) for what Breakers coach Andy Thomas said would be the program’s first league title since 1997.
Five games remain in the league slate, and the sides are scheduled to square off at Laguna Beach on Jan. 31. University won the first meeting 4-1 on its home turf on Jan. 10.
“I’m glad we played Uni away because I think at home, we’re very hard to beat at home, and so it’s going to be an exciting game,” Thomas said. “It would be nice if we could win out, and that game would be for maybe a potential championship.”
Laguna Beach is 5-0-3 at home this season, and perhaps more of an indicator of their fortunes, the Breakers are undefeated when conceding no more than one goal.
“I’ve known these boys, I’ve played on their club teams with them, so it’s really important to us,” said Martlin, who returned to Laguna Beach after spending his sophomore year at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. “The fact that we haven’t won since 1997, it’s just super special to be able to even have the opportunity to have this good of a team.”
Julian Reichel played in Martlin through the middle for his initial scoring strike. Martlin would later cash in on a rebound for the Breakers’ third goal in the 63rd minute.
Rarely threatened in completing the sweep of Sage Hill (1-8-2, 0-8-1), the Breakers bottled up the Lightning in their half of the field, leading to a busy box to be watched by goalkeeper Bryce Pruter.
Pruter kept the line score respectable, cutting off crosses, knocking down sailing shots, and sliding in to cover the ball before oncoming attackers came up with a decisive touch.
“I think he’s feeling more comfortable,” Sage Hill coach Raphael Alves said of Pruter, who made a whopping 14 saves in the contest. “Today was his best performance so far. It was really important to us, especially in the way the game went after losing a player and everything, having him so consistent the way he was was super helpful to somewhat keep us in the game.”
Sage Hill played the entire second half down a man after Roman Van Den Bosch was shown a red card following a series of skirmishes. The play had become increasingly chippy after the Lightning believed Kareem Abousaif had been wiped out on a foul that led directly to the Breakers’ second goal. Max Garner came up with the finish on the long ball played ahead by Ty Tranbarger.
“It was a foul, 100%,” Alves said. “... Those are the things that change the animosity of the game. It happens a few times, multiple challenges that were super rough and should be considered a foul, and [the referee] didn’t call at all, and I do believe because our players are smaller and this and that. … Even the red card that we got, a push is never a red card. My player never punched anyone.”
Laguna Beach is loaded with 16 seniors this season, looking to make the most of their final moments together on the pitch.
“We’ve got the most numbers we’ve had for a bit,” Garner said. “Even the guys that are below us that aren’t seniors, they want to win it for us. We want to bring a title home. We had a chance last season. We made CIF but couldn’t quite finish it, so we definitely want to bring one home this time.”
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